FRANKFURT: European shares closed at a record high on Tuesday with retail stocks leading broader gains, as selling pressures ebbed a day after the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek triggered a global market rout.
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.4%, with retailers leading sectoral gains with a 2.1% rise.
JD Sports, Kingfisher and Howden Joinery were trading between 1.3% and 3.2%.
The European technology index, which took a hit in the previous session, edged up 0.3%, with engineering and technology consulting group Alten in the lead with a 7.7% rise after reporting annual results.
However, AI-related stocks such as ASM International and Schneider Electric dropped further by 3.7% and 7.5%, respectively.
DeepSeek’s discount artificial intelligence model and its soaring popularity rattled investors globally on Monday, who dumped technology shares and questioned the sky-high valuation of AI bellwethers.
Investor focus is also on interest rate verdicts from the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank later in the week.
With a quarter-point rate cut already priced in for the ECB, all eyes will be on policymakers’ remarks to set the tone for the easing cycle for 2025.
“Based on recent ECB speakers, the next two cuts seem to be consensual now, but the path thereafter not. Our view remains that data will ultimately force the ECB to continue cutting to a terminal of 1.5% if not lower,” said a team of Bank of America Global Research analysts led by Ruben Segura-Cayuela.
Sartorius jumped 11.5% to top the STOXX index after the German pharmaceutical equipment supplier reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings as well as strong bioprocess solutions orders.
Siemens Energy rose 7.5% after the offshore wind turbine maker reported a preliminary first-quarter revenue above market expectations.
The company, which also provides electric hardware for AI infrastructure, slumped 20% on Monday.
Spain’s unemployment rate in the fourth quarter fell to its lowest in more than 16 years, as the economy outperforms its neighbours. The IBEX benchmark index rose 1.3% to touch a 15-year high.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.